Tucson Training Camp –- And a Dash of Racing

February 2025

Our team arrived in Tucson, Arizona, filled with excitement for the upcoming training camp. The warm desert climate was a refreshing change from the harsh winter conditions back home, and we were all eager to start our training.

Team Training

While training may stretch like a vast horizon, the scenic ride through Saguaro National Park, over Gates Pass, along the vast network of cycling infrastructure through town, and all around the city transforms it into an exhilarating adventure.

Mount Lemmon was on the agenda, presenting a challenging yet rewarding climb with it’s average grade of 4 – 6%, creating an environment for riders to hit a steady effort throughout the climb. The ascent covered over 40 km, reaching an elevation of 2438 m.

This climb provided the perfect training grounds for each rider to concentrate on pacing, and refreshing their descending skills on the way down after weeks of sitting on the indoor trainers and/or only turning left on the velodrome back home.

Tucson Bicycle Classic – Race Report

Two of our riders took to the track in the Tucson Bicycle Classic Stage Race. While the others focus on adding up more and more volume rides on their bikes.

Prologue Time Trial – The Tucson Bicycle Classic kicked off with a short prologue. Our racers were eager to test their form against a strong field. The prologue course was fast and flat, and each rider put forth their best effort, resulting in a solid start to this stage race. Emily Driedger finished with a strong 7th, 0:37 off the winner times. And Skyler Goudswaard placed 18th.

Criterium – Later the same day as the Time Trial was a criterium, a high-speed circuit in downtown Tucson. The atmosphere was electric, with spectators cheering enthusiastically for the riders. Our team of two were up against a strong field and team riders pushing the pace from the very start. With this grueling starting pace, the race continued to splitter at the back, however Skyler who was well positioned the entire race and was in a small break that didn’t stick after a prime sprint, stuck to her guts up against a team of 5 riders working seamlessly together and protecting their lead. Skyler was able to sprint to 7th place in a bunch sprint finish. With this being Emily’s first Pro 1/2 criterium it was diving into the deep end, through impressive grit she clawed her way back multiple times but overall took in the experience to ability to our upcoming criterium this season.

Road Race – The course featured rolling hills and a long stretched out climb, requiring both physical and mental fortitude. Team tactics were crucial, as with the previous day it was apparent they were outnumbered with a strong team working to maintain their GC rider. Both Emily and Skyler worked to try to establish a break to avoid a bunch sprint up against the GC riders team, even with multiple efforts they were reeled back in to sprint hard to the finishing, however after 130km of racing Skyler was able to pull off a 7th place sprint finish.

Circuit Race – The circuit race similar to the criterium was fast from the start and riders imploded off the back with the spicy fast racing.

Reflections and Excitement for this Upcoming Race Season

As our training camp concluded, we reflected on the incredible experiences and achievements of the week, with a plentiful opportunity to make further bonds with the team. Every rider had significantly improved their training heading into this race season, with riders hitting +700km, +28 hrs and over 6,000 m in elevation over 5-7 days of training, it was a well used team training camp.